Once Upon A Midnight Dreary
by XSilverLiningsX
Summary: [Modern AU, with Children!Rookies] Gallagher gets stuck as the little squid-baits' chaperone for Halloween trick-or-treating and tries to get rid of them by pointing them in the direction of the dilapidated house at the end of the street.


Halloween was a special night for children and adults of all ages, so it was no surprise that the Colhen Orphanage also decided to let their younglings join in on the fun. Captain Aodhan, as many of the orphans had taken to calling him, assigned his workers with at least five children to watch over as the festivities and door-to-door candy hunts began.

17-years-old Gallagher, who had been planning to sneak away to some more adult activities for the night, loudly protested being put in charge of the five most-well known troublemakers (_snot-nosed brats, he had once called them_). Marrec, a gangly lad that always wore a ridiculously oversized beanie, simply punched Gallagher in the mouth and told him to deal with the 'annoying squid-baits' because he sure as hell wasn't going to get a swap.

Gallagher stewed at the front door while the five little troublemakers were having their costumes being put on with Miss Ceara helping occasionally with tiny buttons and shoelaces that their clumsy fingers were too impatient to do up.

Lann adjusted the heavy soldier's helmet on his head with a toothy grin as Miss Ceara securely tied the strap under his chin. It had taken a lot of puppy eyes and extra after-class help to persuade Miss Gwynn, the stern 2nd grade teacher, to let the 7-year-old borrow the sad-looking army helmet that had been collecting dust on top of a cabinet for some time. With his favorite lime-green jacket on and a sturdy pair of rain boots on his feet, Lann was practically vibrating from where he stood with anticipation humming through his body.

To his immediate right, an 8-year-old Fiona was putting finishing touches of glow-in-the-dark paint onto her cardboard shield and sword. She had decided to be a knight, but since getting a child-sized suit of armor was nearly impossible she decided to make do with some sturdy cardboard that had been lying around. She was clad in a blindingly white jacket that had some orange reflecting tape on the back and an equally blinding pair of white rain boots – as garish as the shoes might have looked, she loved them because they had been an early birthday present from Miss Clodagh. One of the braver girls had tried to take them from her by force and ended up in the school's infirmary with a black eye and a wobbly tooth in return.

7-year-old Evie had always known what she wanted to be for Halloween ever since she had sneaked into a showing of a terrifyingly scary movie that she shouldn't have been able to get into. Her makeshift scythe was fantastically easily to make, provided that she could spirit away a broom handle and some thick cardboard, both of which were easily found in the Orphanage. Wearing her best pair of brown galoshes and a black jacket that was striped all over with neon pink reflecting tape, Evie was good to go candy hunting as a miniature, slightly neon-pink version of a Grim Reaper.

Since Evie had been long done with her costume she decided hang around Karok and Ellis, who were also done with their costumes. Little 6-year-old Ellis decided to take after one of the other workers, Keaghan, and somehow managed to get a red beret from someone (_Ceara, probably_); despite the constant threat of the hat swallowing his entire head at any moment, the beret actually looked perfect atop his tiny head.

9-years-old Karok, on the other hand, had shrugged his shoulders and put on a ridiculous looking Native-American headdress that he had found stuffed between two books in the school's library. Aside from the headgear (_that garnered odd looks every now and then from other kids_), he was dressed in a brown t-shirt covered in neon orange reflective tape and new sneakers that squeaked loudly whenever he took a step.

Last but not least, a 6-year-old Kai was brooding (_read: pouting_) in a corner of the room with his tiny arms crossed across his chest. Miss Aislinn, upon hearing that the newest addition to the Colhen Orphanage didn't have so much as an inkling as to what Halloween was, had more or less dumped a dark green Robin Hood costume into his hands and marched him to the bathroom, chatting all the way about how awesome Halloween was because of the free bags of candy and wonderful costumes. Thankfully the costume had lime green reflective tape on it so Miss Tieve didn't freak out over the endless possibilities involving speeding cars and children walking across the street.

* * *

"Alright kiddos, we're movin' out!" Gallagher eyed the short boy with the army helmet. "Squishy, you're in charge of your buddies. Pinkie – I'm talking to you, girlie with the pink stripes – don't eat anything that's unwrapped when you get it. Er… Feathers, um-"

"My name'th Lann! Not th'quishy!" Gallagher winced a little on the inside. Great, this kid had a lisp.

"Whatever. Now, I've got a little task for you kiddos-"

"Candy! Now!" That came from Evie, who impatiently crossed her arms and tapped her feet on the pavement. After all, she had been waiting for almost another year for the opportunity to get free candy by the bagful. Next to her, Fiona nodded in agreement.

"Candy." Kai intoned almost emotionlessly as he raised his pillowcase to emphasize the emptiness that was the absence of candy in the bag. Inwardly, Gallagher shivered with fear; Kai was creepy as hell even if he was dressed as an absurdly sullen Robin Hood.

"If you're going to ditch us, too bad." Now Karok joined in, annoyed by the delay of sugar and the explosive trouble that was the four increasingly impatient younger children. If he had to suffer, then Gallagher had to as well.

"ALRIGHT! Just shu- quiet down for a moment! Let me finish!" Immediately the kids stopped their ramblings and stared intensely at Gallagher, who scratched the back of his head. What was he going to say again? Oh, right.

"As I was saying," He threw a sharp look at 'Squishy' when the kid's mouth opened and then closed with an audible clack of teeth, "I know of a great place to get lots of candy from. You kids see that house up on that hill? If you kids have the guts, ring the doorbell until someone comes out and I'll get all the candy you guys want. If not, I'll drop you brats off with Clodagh for the rest of the night." He pointed to the dilapidated house that was surrounded by a tall iron-wrought gate. All year round it looked like a haunted house, but now that it was Halloween it seemed even more ominous. Nobody ever walked up that part of the street and the owner was shrouded in mystery, but someone definitely lived there. Maybe. Could even be a ghost, but hey, who really knew?

"B-but that'th off limit'th! Cap'tun Aodhan th'aid sth'o!" The other kids had their sounds of agreement behind him and Gallagher leered at the tick of fear that was present in the kid. It looked like squid-baits were squid-baits, all the same.

"Well, let's go on to Clo-" He was stopped by a whack of Fiona's cardboard sword against his arm. At her deadly glare, Gallagher sighed and mockingly held up his hands in the universal sign for surrender. "Fine, stop hittin' me then! Now that you all are up for it, get movin' brats!"

Gallagher leaned against a nearby lamp post as he watched 'Squishy' take the lead and pushed through the creaking gates and stepped on the weed-overgrown driveway to the seemingly abandoned house. He knew that nobody had lived in the house since forever, so it was safe to say that the kiddos would be occupied for a long time. Checking his watch, Gallagher thought it would be wise to go on his own little trick-or-treat quest for a while.

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow, ow—hey! What wa'th that for?" Lann rubbed the back of his hand, where Evie had whacked her makeshift scythe.

"Stop being annoying! All we have to do is ring the doorbell, right?" Evie looked to Karok for confirmation. Karok nodded and said,

"Easy, peasy. I think Gallagher just wanted us out of his hands for a while." Fiona frowned but continued walking, Kai dragging his feet at a steady pace next to her.

"My boot has a rock in 'um!" At Lann's outburst, Evie hit him again with her scythe. Their squabbling got quieter as they got closer to the house, the chill coming from the place getting to them. The wooden porch under their feet either groaned from under their combined weight or the sudden gust of wind that spiraled through the dark, shadowy yard.

At a closer look the doorbell was half-hidden behind a piece of plywood. Lann turned to his friends and with the nods that he got in return, he held his breath and pushed the button quickly two times. The screechy echo of the ring, something that sounded like the chime of the grandfather clock that was in the dining room of the Orphanage, nearly scared them witless.

Karok even had one foot off the porch, and he was the hardest to scare out of them all. Lann shifted from foot to foot, a cold sweat crawling down his spine making itself known as the seconds ticked by. Fiona raised her shield high enough so she could hide a little of her face behind it and Evie shifted closer to Kai, who twitched at every creak and moan of the dead trees that were in the yard behind them.

After what seemed like an eternity but in reality was only a minute, the heavy door in front of them slowly opened as if it weighed a thousand pounds. Through the void of darkness that was the interior of the house, Lann, who was the closest to the opening, could barely make out a figure that was holding something…

"…Trickortreat?" The words came out rushed and Lann squeaked at the end as the figure peered at them from within the darkness. Evie and Fiona were now hiding behind Karok and clutched at their cardboard weapons, while Kai glared warily from under tilt of his feathered cap.

From within the darkness came a cloaked and shadowy figure (_whoever it was, the shadows made it look as if he or she was as tall as the house itself_) holding out a glass bowl that was moderately filled with assortment of chocolate candies and lollipops.

"…_Help yourself._" The whisper was almost inaudible as the wind howled from all around and rattled angrily at some windows. Hands shaking just a little, Lann cautiously reached out and took a handful of random candy and put it in his pillowcase.

"Thankthsforthecandy!?" Lann practically scooted back so Karok could go next. With a renewed sense of bravery, the giant of a boy marched up, Evie and Fiona still half-hiding behind him, and took a good chunk of candy. Evie reached over and, in a flash, another handful was gone from the bowl. Fiona, her shield held protectively in front of her, took a generous helping.

Kai took one (_really long_) look at the shadowy figure that was holding the bowl of candy and asked bluntly in his squeaky voice, "Have all of it?"

The shadowy figure paused for a moment before seemingly shrugging and replying in the ghostly whisper. "_Sure._"

"Thank-kyou." Once Kai scooped the rest of the candy from the bowl into his pillowcase, the figure and the bowl disappeared back inside the house. The heavy door closed with a soft but resounding thunk. Turning to his friends, Kai hefted the bag of candy up his chest like it was a gold trophy with a twitch of a triumphant grin on his face.

"More candy, yes?"

* * *

Gallagher stared unbelievingly at the five kids that practically had mega-watt grins on their faces (_well, four kids with ridiculously big smiles and one with something oddly between a frown and a mocking smirk_) as they showed him the candy acquired from whoever that had lived in the haunted house on the edge of the street.

Fiona had her sword poised at his knee and Evie with her scythe at his elbow. Lann had his puppy eyes out and Karok looked as if he found some new blackmail material. Kai looked… like himself. Gallagher sighed at his bad luck; he'd never hear the end of it from the good Captain if he broke a deal he made with a bunch of preteens. Especially since it involved candy.

"Alright, fine, I'll take you kiddos to more houses. All the candy you want." Gallagher had force those words out from behind gritted teeth and force back a snarl when Evie and Lann cheered in their annoying chirpy way. At least they removed their fake weapons from his person.

* * *

Halloween had been officially over since an hour ago and most of the adults and children had retired to their beds after working off the sugar high. Aodhan, however, was still up and working through some papers when the sound of knocking on the door of his office pulled him from his thoughts.

"Come in." The door opened to reveal a figure wearing a cloak that concealed everything but the bottom half of their face. Aodhan took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. Headaches were coming on more frequently, it seemed. No doubt his more… trouble-seeking charges were the cause of some of them.

"Nyle. What can I do for you? Did Reilly blow up a room again?" Nyle folded himself into the small visitor's chair across from Aodhan.

"_Ah, no, he didn't. I'm here to discuss some of your more… interesting… children._" The pounding in his temples returned with a vengeance and Aodhan grumbled out,

"Did some of my kids egg the house again? I really-"

"_No, nothing of the sort._" Aodhan stared, uncomprehending. Nyle was not one for casual visits.

Nyle cleared his throat. "_Some of your more… adventurous… children came upon my doorstep. Asking for treats._"

Oh. _Oh_.

The metaphorical light bulb above Aodhan's tired head blinked on.

"Ah, I told them your property was off limits… I'm sorry, I really am, it just seems like no matter what I say they don't seem to-"

"_Stop. I am not here to- actually, I suspect it was Gallagher who encouraged them to my doorstep. He was in charge of those children, was he not?_" Aodhan rubbed his face and sighed in exasperation.

"I'll need to talk to Gallagher in the morning. Look, I'm sorry if the kids disturbed anything. They're good kids, really, but that bunch in particular… it seems like trouble finds them even when they're not actively looking for some." Nyle nodded, the apology accepted, got up from his seat, and walked towards the door. With his curiosity satiated, it would be pointless to take up any more of Aodhan's time than he already had.

Before he left, however, Nyle threw over his shoulder, "_Your children are strong, Aodhan. You've done well for them._"

Surprised, Aodhan stared at the door as it closed softly with a click for a moment before he sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair.

Sighing, Aodhan pushed himself up from his chair. It was getting late, and it would do no good if he burned himself out in the wee hours of the morning. After all, his children would need him tomorrow – stomachaches, toothaches, and the sniffles were always a joy to deal with after Halloween.


End file.
